Private Kicking Lesson: James Sherman – Montgomery, Alabama

The Kicking System had the privilege of working with high school kicker James Sherman on an individual session.  James is a rising senior, from Montgomery, Alabama.  Interestingly, James’s family are good friends with Bill Walton, (The former NBA Great) and staying at his house during their brief visit to San Diego.

James was referred to Coach John Matich through Bill Walton relationships with Sportsforce and Andrew Beinbrink (sportsforceonline.com).

James, who has worked with most of the established kicking coaches across the nation and is ranked very highly in most of the recruiting boards across the nation. He has heavy interest from LSU, Tulane, and Clemson to name a few.

Unfortunately, there was bit of wind during the session on a gorgeous day at St. Augustine HS in North Park, San Diego.  Nonetheless, it did not waver our work with James.

After a few kicks, Coach Matich, started to tweak a few key fundamentals. One of which was his foot placement.  James had a history of kicking in more of a wedge type of technique. Coach Matich pointed out how this was hindering his hip getting into the kick. After a few tweaks, James was keen on getting his hip into the kick and getting down field more.

After a few kicks, James was the first High School kicker to hit a football over the, “monster” at the Saints HS field. Coach Matich was bit surprised by his massive power and ended up hitting a neighborhood car. The funny part is that the ball landed in someone’s front yard, we never got the ball back because the neighbor confiscated the ball! Unbelievable!

After a few more tweaks in the field goal form, James hit a few kickoffs.  He hit a 4.25, 4.09, 4.13 and a few a few yards deep from the 35 yard line – still working on his new foot placement.  James has great lift on his kickoffs and the best I have seen from a high school kid since Billy Bennett (Torrey Pines HS) and Jack Mitchell (Northwestern University).

Afterwards kicking coach John Matich got a chance to chat with James and his family. With a few recruiting tips, James left with plenty of homework and work to do over the next few months. There is no doubt we think James can be a Division I kicker and with a few more tweaks in his kicking technique the sky is the limit for his potential.

Coach Matich is planning to spread the word about James to his network of college coaches. Should be very interesting to see where he ends up playing his college ball!

Over the last few weeks Coach Matich has had kickers flying in from Portland, Oregon, — Mobile, Alabama, and Los Angeles, CA. The word is spreading! Slots are filling up fast!

The Kicking System is a football & soccer kicking academy based in San Diego, CA. For over 10 years, Kicking Coach Matich has been working with pop warner, high school, professional kickers and soccer players from across the nation. The Kicking System has helped place more than 60 high school athletes to colleges nationwide. Coach Matich a former Boson College and professional kicker is nationally recognized and has been featured in the San Diego Union Tribune and numerous publications across the nation.  The Kicking System approach to unique in that we provide a patient, disciplined, professional environment in which students thrive and make tremendous improvements.